Geraldton Police column: Community support crucial to stop crime

The past couple of weeks have been productive for police, thanks in large part to support from the community and local business.

We’ve been getting reports in the past week of groups of youths causing damage, particularly around Northgate and at other shopping centres.

These young people have been aged 11 to 15 and the incidents have largely occurred during school hours.

It has included minor damage to vehicles, such as smashed windows.

We urge anyone who sees groups of youths acting suspiciously to contact police.

We’re working really hard with the Department of Education to engage those kids through our youth policing unit and get them back in the classroom.

We want to keep them away from trouble and stop them from getting into trouble.

The hard work of officers and support from businesses has delivered a great result and put a stop to a recent stealing spree.

Officers have charged nine people with eight offences.

They will be going through the courts soon.

I think we have installed some reassurance that this spate of stealing has stopped and we want to thank businesses for co-operating and supplying us with CCTV.

We encourage businesses and residents to register their CCTV on Cam-Map WA. This allows police quick access to footage and really assists us in catching the crooks as soon as possible.

Police are seeing crime in Geraldton return to pre-COVID levels.

People are returning to their normal activities and unfortunately this includes criminals.

Almost all of the crime in Geraldton is opportunistic.

So to prevent stealing offences from occurring in the first place, I’d once again urge people to be smart about securing their valuables because the crooks are smart.

This includes keeping your homes and cars looked and making sure items aren’t visible through a car or house window.

Sen. Sgt Chris Martin is officer in charge at Geraldton Police Station